Army Gen. David Petraeus, one of the most well known faces of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, retired Wednesday after 37 years of uniformed service. “You’ve run the race well, swifter and surer than the rest, and you now stand among the giants, not just in our time, but of all time, joining the likes of Grant and Pershing and Marshall and Eisenhower as one of the great battle captains of American history,” said Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, during the retirement ceremony at Fort Myer, Va. The Army four-star was instrumental in developing the US counterinsurgency strategy that turned the tide of the war in Iraq. He led the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq, Multinational Forces-Iraq, US Central Command, and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Now a civilian, Petraeus will be taking over at the CIA, having received the Senate’s nod in June to lead the intelligence organization. (AFPS release by Jim Garamone)
Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China confirmed it is halting its nuclear arms control talks with the U.S., in retaliation for the U.S. continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. The move reinforces a “pattern of behavior” from Beijing, experts say.